Apparatus for implanting implants in cattle

ABSTRACT

A retainer for cattle implants comprising a main body portion and a plurality of retention elements capable of implantation into cattle along with the implant itself. An injector and new process of implanting is also disclosed wherein a double acting trigger mechanism on an injector properly loads a retainer and implant into a needle and then injects the retainer and implant into the animal.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to implanting cattle and inparticular relates to implanting of drugs into feed animals to increasethe size of the animal prior to slaughter.

Cattle farmers uniformly implant cattle with growth hormones or steroidsdue to the higher feed efficiency, added weight gains, and lower costper animal than a feed mix or other method. The implants are approved bythe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and must be implanted,under such approval, in a specific location in the back of the ear ofthe animal between the hide and the first layer of tissue. The placementof the implant in the proper location permits the proper time release ofthe steroid or growth hormone into the animal. The cost of the implantsis over $2.00 per head of cattle over an eight to nine month period overwhich period each head of cattle will gain an extra thirty to fiftypounds.

The process generally involves confining the animal to be implanted in asqueeze chute, loading the implant in an injector, grasping the tip ofthe animal's ear in one hand and the injector in the other, penetratingunder the skin with the needle of the injector on the back side of themiddle third of the animal's ear, fully inserting the needle between theskin and cartilage while avoiding major blood vessels, pulling theneedle back (to remove the needle) as the plunger of the injector ispushed forward to place the implant in the ear of the animal. Optionalhygiene techniques may also add steps at various points in the process.

To protect against infection due to the breakage of the skin or hide,some implants have an antibiotic coating, such as that used inCOMPUDOSE, an estradiol sold by the Elanco Division of Eli Lilly & Co.,approved for steers and calves and having a 200 day period ofusefulness. The antibiotic coating, however, has a silicone base whichcauses a significant percentage of the implants to be expelled by theanimal from its ear prior to the healing of the hide at the insertionpoint. Expulsion of the implant not only costs the farmer the expense ofthe implant, but also causes the farmer to lose the income he would haveacquired from the thirty to fifty pounds of meat that each head ofcattle would have acquired if the implant had remained in place theentire period of desired implantation. Other implants having a shorterterm of usefulness than COMPUDOSE are sold under the trade names RALGRO(by International Minerals & Chemical Corporation, Terre Haute, Indiana)and SYNOVEX (by Syntex Corp.).

The present invention seeks to improve the implantation technique andthe retention level of the implants in the animals. A retainer has beendeveloped by applicants which can be inserted along with the implant toretain the antibiotic coated implant in the ear with great success. Theretainer has the object of improving its effectiveness in directproportion to the conditions that had decreased the effectiveness of theimplant without the retainer, particularly becoming increasinglyeffective as the implant moves in a direction towards the hole caused bythe injector needle during implantation.

Further, a packaged set of the retainers has been developed, which isinsertable into an injector also developed by applicants, toconveniently implant the drug and the retainer into the ears of cattlein a large scale operation. Packaging of the implants and retainers inthe same cartridge is also within the scope of the invention.

The injector of the present invention has the additional advantages of agravity feed for the retainers and implants, universatility forright-handed or left-handed use of the injector by the operator, and theconvenience of a requirement that only one hand need be used to operatethe injector during the implantation process.

The method of implanting is also improved by the implantation of theretainer and implant together, particularly when used in connection withthe injector of the present invention.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevated view illustrating the injector just prior toplacement in the ear of the animal;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical side sectional view of the implantretained in the animal's ear by the retainer;

FIG. 3 is an elevated end view of the retainer;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the retainer;

FIG. 5 is an elevated view of a package of retainers as insertable intothe injector;

FIG. 6 is a vertical side sectional view of the injector of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 are views similar to FIG. 6 illustrating the injectorat various positions during the actuation of the injector;

FIG. 10 is a vertical rear sectional view of the injector; and

FIG. 11 is a top elevated view of the load slots of the injector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, an animal 10 is shown with its ear 12 being held inthe left hand 14 of the operator of an injector 16. The animal's head isheld in place by a conventional yoke mechanism. The injector 16 has anunmodified cartridge 18 of COMPUDOSE implants inserted therein, with theprotective cap (not shown) of the COMPUDOSE cartridge removed. Theinjector 16 is held in the operator's right hand 20, but is actuallyuniversal to either right or left handed use.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the goal of implantation is to place animplant 22 in a specific location in the animal's ear 12 between thehide 24 and the tissue 26 of the ear 12 and have it be retained therefor the period of usefulness of the implant 22. With COMPUDOSE, thatperiod is 200 days. The approved location behind the ear 12 has a verylow number of blood vessels per square inch relative to other parts ofthe animal 10 and permits the best controlled time release of thesteroid or growth hormone by the animal 10 into its system over thelongest period of time.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the needle 28 used for insertion of theimplant is approximately 3/8 of an inch interior dimension andapproximately three inches long. The needle may include a nib 29 to keepa loaded implant from releasing from the needle 28 prior to the desiredtime. The hole 30 remaining when the needle 28 has been withdrawn fromthe animal's ear 12 is substantial. In many cases, an animal 10 can takeup to a week before the hole 30 is completely closed by scar tissue 32.The implant 22 may be expelled through this hole 30 at any time by theanimal 10, either by the animal rubbing its ear against another object,or merely by the implant 22 being shaken loose by the animal through thehole 30 in its hide 24.

The present invention includes a retainer 34 that maintains the implant22 in place during such movement. The retainer 34 (FIGS. 2, 3, and 4)has a cylindrical hollow main body portion 36 closed at one end 37 andfrom the other end 38 has three retention elements 40, 42, and 44extending from it and forming an angle with the axis A--A of the bodyportion 36. The retention elements 40, 42, and 44 have both radial andaxial components as they are directed away from the body portion 36. Theretainer 34 is made of an USFDA approved polyethylene allowed to beinserted by the USFDA into various animals, including cattle. Theretention elements 40, 42, and 44 are flexible, each having a freeforward edge 46 capable of planting the retention elements 40, 42, or 44against the animal hide 24 or tissue 26 if any force is exerted againstthe retainer body portion 36 by the implant 22 due to any movement bythe animal 10 that may force the implant 22 outward. Any force appliedto the main body portion 36 of the retainer 34 by the implant 22 alsoflexes the retention elements 40, 42, and 44 radially outwardly as theyare forced against the adjacent hide 24 or tissue 26 material againstwhich they are planted, as shown in FIG. 2. The main body portion 36thus acts as an abutment to hold the implant 22 in place via theretention elements 40, 42, and 44.

The retainers 34 are packaged, as shown in FIG. 5, within a series ofapertures 48 in a frame 50 and integral with the frame 50 at aninterface between each of the retention elements 40, 42, and 44 of theretainer 34 and the edge 52 of each respective aperture. Thus, theentire package of retainers is made in one injection mold operation. Theframe also has a leading edge 54, a trailing edge 56, and a pair ofparallel elongated edges 58 and 60 along which a pair of guide tracks 62and 64 are disposed as will be discussed in greater detail below.

The injector 16 itself is shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The injector16 is effectively a gun having a double acting trigger mechanism. Theinjector 16 comprises a two piece housing 70 and 72 (FIG. 10) withinwhich is disposed a bore 74 within which a plunger rod 76 moves. Thebore 74 narrows at the front portion of the injector 16 to form twospaced apart bores 75 and 77 which aid in guiding the movement of theplunger rod 76. The bore 74 also has a longitudinal groove 78 and 80(FIG. 10) on each side of the bore 74, one in each housing section 70and 72. The housing sections 70 and 72 also form a slot 82 at the top ofthe injector housing 84 to communicate the bore 74 with the exterior ofthe housing 84 via the slot 82. The housing sections 70 and 72 aresecured together by suitable bolts via threaded bores 69, 71, and 73.

The plunger rod 76 is moved by a hand trigger 86 mounted in a centrallydisposed extended portion 88 of the housing 84 between the two housinghalves 70 and 72. A first post 90 connected to one end of the plungerrod 76 and slidably movable therewith extends through the upper slot 82with a manually engageable lug 92 fixedly mounted to the post 90 outsideof the housing 84. The plunger rod 76 is of a length such that the frontend 94 of the plunger rod 76 can extend beyond the end tip 96 of theneedle 28 at the point that the first post 90 reaches the front end 98of the slot 82 as shown in FIG. 9. The front 98 and rear 100 ends of theslot 82 act to positively stop the first post 90 and provide the limitsof travel of the plunger rod 76.

The needle 28 is associated with the injector 16 and the bore 74 at thefront end 102 of the injector via a holding cap 104 which also acts tohold the front end 102 of the injector 16 and the needle 28 together.The cap 104 has a narrow central bore 106 expanding into a largerinternally threaded bore 107 which mates with the external thread 108 ofthe housing 84 at the front extension 110 thereof. The needle 28 isinserted through the narrow bore 106 in the cap 104 into the housing 84at a counterbore 112 located at the front end of the plunger bore 74. Asthe cap 104 is tightened, the housing halves 70 and 72 also clampagainst the needle 28 to secure the needle 28 to the housing 84.

A slot 114 communicating the internal bore 74 (or 75 and 77) with theexterior of the housing is located just behind the cap 104 for locationof the cartridge 18 of COMPUDOSE implants. A second slot 116 is disposedbehind the cartridge slot 114 and comprises, as shown in FIG. 11, twoelongated vertical throughbores 118 and 120 in a plane perpendicular tothe axis of movement of the plunger rod 76 and a narrow connecting bore122 between the elongated vertical bores 118 and 120 for placement ofthe package of retainers 50. The upper section 122a of the connectingbore has a greater width above the plunger rod bore 75 than the lowersection 122b below such that a ledge or stop 123 exists to locate thenext available retainer 34 from a package 50 inserted in the bore 122.

The trigger mechanism 86 comprises a hollow hand engaging member 124which is pivoted at the upper portion thereof on a pin 126 on each sideof the member 124 engageable into bores (not shown) within each of thehousing sections 70 or 72. The lower portion of the hand engagingmechanism is first pivoted to a yoke element 128 at pin 130 passing onlythrough the member 124. The yoke element 128 is in turn pivoted to aslider 132 via pins 134 on both sides of the slider 132 and also yokedat an intermediate location on a pin 136 extending between the twohousing sections 70 and 72.

The slider 132 slides along the plunger rod 76. At an intermediatelocation in the slider 132, a block 140 through which the plunger rod 76passes is pivoted. The block 140 is biased by a first spring 142 awayfrom the front portion 144 of the slider 132, and pivoted via a pin 146to the lower end 148 of the slider 132. The block 140 may becounterweighted, as shown in FIG. 6, to lessen the bias needed by thefirst spring 142. The front surface 150 of the slider 132 in a turn actsagainst a second biasing spring 152 to bias the slider 132 away from thefront end 153 of the slot. It should also be noted that the plunger rod76 is stabilized within the bore 74 by lugs 154 and 156 extendinglaterally from the plunger rod 76 at the first post 90 into the grooves78 and 80 in each housing section 70 and 72 at the respective side ofthe bore 74.

A trip element 158 is also included in the housing 84 and fixedlymounted to one of the housing sections to force the block 140 forwardwhen the block 140 contacts the trip element 158, which action will bedescribed in more detail below.

In operation, as shown in FIG. 6, the injector 16 is loaded with thecartridge 18 of COMPUDOSE and a package 50 of retainers. Referring toFIG. 7, the first action is movement of the plunger rod 76 to load theinjector 16 by breaking the lowest retainer 34 free from the package 50into association with the implant 22 and placing both the retainer 34and the implant 22 into the needle 28 for readiness to inject into theanimal. This action is performed by squeezing the trigger 86 to itslimit. The loading procedure of FIG. 7 also locks the block 140 intoposition by friction against the plunger rod 76 (via the trip element158) to place tension on the injector spring 152, but only permits theplunger rod 76 to travel approximately half its axial dimension (sincethe slider 132 can only travel that far) so that the implant 22 is notprematurely injected. At the end of this first stroke, when the handtrigger 86 is released, the block 140 is freed by the combined force ofthe two springs 142 and 152 to slide the slider 132 back until the block140 again contacts the trip element 158, as shown in FIG. 8. Either justbefore or just after this action, the farmer will have restricted theanimal's head in a squeeze chute, grabbed the animal's ear andpenetrated its hide with the needle 28 in the proper location asregulated by the USFDA.

When the hand trigger 86 is then squeezed a second time, as shown inFIG. 9, the plunger rod 76 will move forward until the first post 90 isset against the front end 98 of the upper slide slot 82, driven due tothe frictional interface between the block 140 and the plunger rod 76(via the trip element 158) by movement of the hand trigger 124. At thispoint, the front end 94 of the plunger rod 76 will have traversed thelength of the needle 28 and into the animal to implant both the retainer34 and the implant 22 into the animal's ear. The needle 28 is withdrawnconcurrently with the placement of the retainer 34 and implant 22 in theear of the animal. The injector is then cocked for the next implantationby pulling the lug 92 to the rear end 100 of the slot 82 after theanimal has been freed from the squeeze chute.

Once a retainer 34 and implant 22 have been implanted and the plungerrod 76 cocked to its initial position, as shown in FIG. 6, the packageof retainers 50 will automatically slide down into the next positionwith the next retainer 34 itself acting as a positive stop against thehousing 84 adjacent the COMPUDOSE implant at slot 122b to properlylocate the packaged retainer 34 in the injector 16. The next implant 22will either move down by gravity or be advanced by a knob 164 (FIG. 1)on the cartridge 18 to the next position, depending on the cartridgedesign. In the COMPUDOSE cartridge 18 shown, the next implant 22 must bemanually placed into the injector by advancing the knob 164 in thecartridge 18 to the next position (FIG. 1). Neither situation willaffect the performance of this injector 16, however.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of theinvention disclosed are well calculated to provide the advantages andfeatures above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention issusceptible to modification, variation and change without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appendedclaims.

We claim:
 1. An injector for the implantation of implants in animals andused in combination with at least one implant comprising a housinghaving an internal chamber; a needle operably associated with saidhousing, said needle having an internal bore communicating with saidchamber; plunger means operably associated with said chamber and saidneedle bore, said plunger means having a forward end movable into saidneedle bore; manually responsive trigger means for moving said plungerin said chamber and into said needle bore; and means capable of loadingand locating an implant in operable association with the forward end ofsaid plunger means to traverse said needle bore during operation of saidinjector, wherein said trigger means comprises a hollow hand engagingmember; a first pivot means connecting said hand engaging member to saidhousing; a yoke element; second pivot means connecting said yoke elementto said member; third pivot means connecting said yoke element to saidhousing; a slider operably associated with said plunger means having ablock engageable with and at least substantially surrounding saidplunger means; fourth pivot means connecting said yoke element to saidslider; fifth pivot means connecting said block to said slider; and atrip element for moving said block into position of engagement of saidplunger means in response to movement of said hand engaging member. 2.An injector in accordance with claim 1, wherein said trigger meansfurther comprises means for disengaging said slider means from saidplunger means to slideably move from said slider means relative to saidplunger means.
 3. An injector in accordance with claim 1, furthercomprising a package of retainers including a series of retainersdisposed adjacent one another, said housing including a slot into whichsaid package is disposable, said slot includes location means whereinsaid package properly locates a retainer for use in said injector by theplacement of said retainer against said location means.
 4. An injectorin accordance with claim 3, wherein said slot comprises an upper slotand a lower slot narrower than said upper slot and said location meanscomprises the housing portion at which said narrow lower slot meets saidupper slot.
 5. An injector in accordance with claim 1, wherein saidplunger means further comprises means for guiding the movement of saidplunger means in said chamber.
 6. An injector in accordance with claim5, wherein said guiding means comprises grooves in said chamber and saidplunger means includes lugs movable within said grooves.
 7. An injectorin accordance with claim 1, wherein said trigger means moving saidplunger means forward in consecutive movements of two stages eachwherein said first stage of each movement comprises movement of saidplunger means to load said implant into said needle bore from outside ofsaid needle bore and said second stage of each movement comprisesmovement of said plunger means to place said implant into said animal.8. An injector in accordance with claim 1, wherein said block meansfrictionally interacts with said plunger means to move said plungermeans forwardly in said chamber.
 9. An injector in accordance with claim1, wherein said trip element limits the movement of said hand engagingmember.
 10. An injector in accordance with claim 1, wherein said triggermeans moving said plunger means forward in consecutive movements of twostages each wherein said first stage of each movement comprises movementof said plunger means to load both said implant and said retainer intosaid needle bore and said second stage of each movement comprisesmovement of at least a portion of said plunger means through said needleto implant said implant and retainer into said animal; and means capableof loading and locating both an implant and a retainer for said implantin operable association with the forward end of said plunger means totraverse said needle bore during operation of said injector.